


Simplicity

by csiAngel



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:34:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26030482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/csiAngel/pseuds/csiAngel
Summary: Missing scenes for the s7 finale, so spoilers!Sometimes things are not as complicated as they seem.
Relationships: Phil Coulson & Melinda May
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	Simplicity

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on ff.net on 17th August.
> 
> An alternative ending to the series finale. There were looks between Coulson and May in that meeting scene that I felt were heading towards something like this.

He manoeuvred Lola into a space at the curb and returned the car to its more traditional appearance. Then he settled in to wait.

When he eventually saw Melinda descend the steps, he watched her closely, a smile gracing his lips as he anticipated her reaction.

Her steps faltered when she spotted him and he suspected the well honed balance from her martial arts training kept her from falling down the final few steps.

This was why he hadn't called. (Well, this and a fear that she might have said she was busy) He had wanted to see that response.

"Can I give you a ride?" he asked as she stopped beside the vehicle.

"You won't see much of the world between here and my apartment."

"I'll settle for seeing you."

With a small smile, she climbed in beside him, taking in the familiar surroundings. "She looks good."

"Mack made some adjustments… Shall we get some dinner en route?"

"Sure."

He started up the car, watched Melinda watch the transformation, grinned and took off.

*Cue SHIELD logo*

Later, parked atop a cliff overlooking a gently lapping ocean, the remnants of their meal tidied away, Melinda turned to Phil and ordered, "Out with it."

He frowned, pretending not to know what she was talking about.

"Don't give me that. You didn't swing by just to show off your car and buy me dinner..." Her tone softened. "You wanted to say something, back when we met with the others. What's going on?"

"Nothing's going on... I... I was just wondering if you might want to come with me. To see the world. We could work around your schedule... You said yourself you're exhausted. It would be a nice break for you." He shrugged as he asked, as if he didn't have all his hopes for the future pinned on her answer.

But the truth was that after months of trying to work out what to do next, he had struggled to find a purpose for his latest life. Without an immediate threat to humanity, it had taken a while to convince himself he even had the right to stick around. He had decided against deactivation, though, knowing he couldn't do that to his former team. Knowing that May would kill him.

But each and every other option he had considered never seemed to be enough. Then he had realised that he was stalling at every turn because he couldn't imagine being apart from Melinda.

Initially, the idea to see the world had been a possible way to move on. But the more he had thought about leaving, the less appealing it sounded. Until it occurred to him that he could ask her to go with him.

She watched him closely as he waited for her response, and he did his best to keep his nervous impatience from being displayed.

"What else?" she asked eventually.

Now he tried not to show his disappointment with her lack of an answer. "Nothing else. That's what I wanted to ask you."

"Okay… _Why_ else? This is not just about giving me a break. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine… But… I miss you. And I thought it might be nice to spend some time together. Nothing, _you know_. Just two old friends, seeing the sights."

Melinda smiled softly, "I would like that. I miss you too."

"Do you?"

That removed the smile. "Don't sound so surprised."

"I don't mean it like that. I just mean — Well, firstly, I wasn't sure if you could and secondly… Since you agreed to drive the bus, I've never gone this long without seeing you - or a really good copy of you - ..." He ignored her glare. "... pretty much daily, whereas you..."

"Had to learn to live without you," she finished for him.

"So I thought perhaps—"

"I'd succeeded? Phil, I existed without you. I wouldn't say I lived."

His face fell. The thought of her grief holding her back crushed that area inside him that simulated a heart. "Melinda —"

"Phil, it takes time. And, thankfully, you were never gone long enough for me to get to that point."

"I'm sorry you —"

"I'm not... You might have died seven times, Phil, but, in between, you lived. And I'm grateful for every single one of those lives... So, yes, I miss you... And I obviously can, because I do. Why do you think I call you every other day?"

"I assumed you were checking up on me."

"I'd have called every day but I worried you might think that was too much."

"Never."

He met her eyes and watched a smile creep across her lips.

"Maybe Flint misses me and you picked up on that?" he quipped.

"It's possible."

"Well, either way… Shall we plan to see the world?"

"Definitely... Where were you thinking to start?"

"Perhaps Ireland."

The smile faded and she raised an eyebrow. "To read 'Ulysses' in pubs?"

He shrugged sheepishly, fighting his own smile. "Maybe."

"You're inviting me on the trip you planned with my LMD?"

He allowed his amusement to surface now. "I thought you might appreciate the irony."

Her lips curved once more into a wide smile. "I do... Let's start in Ireland."

Melinda watched the ocean as they continued to plan their trip, and Phil watched Melinda.

As they reminisced about past missions in Europe, discussing which locations it would be nice to see again under different circumstances, her words repeated in his mind:

"… _in between, you lived_."

And he had. Because of her. If he had ever returned to find a world without Melinda in it he doubted that would have been the case. Without her there to support him; to drive him, each time, he would – as she had said – have merely existed.

Having calculated every possible direction for his future, he had come to one conclusion – one that really should have been obvious:

Whatever they had been to each other; whatever they were now; whatever might be to come, Phil Coulson was supposed to spend his lives with Melinda May.

It was as simple as that.

THE END


End file.
